Method of manufacturing an electronic card

Abstract

The present application relates to overcoming some of the physical problems associated with putting a biometric sensor into the body of an electronic card, such as a smart card. A disclosed method of manufacturing an electronic card including a biometric sensor may include providing a preformed card body including a circuit having contacts for connection to a biometric sensor, the contacts being embedded within the preformed card body, removing material from the preformed card body to form a cavity in the preformed card body to expose the contacts, coating walls of the cavity with an adhesive epoxy, and connecting a biometric sensor to the contacts using an conductive epoxy. Also disclosed is an electronic card including a biometric sensor manufactured by this method.

The invention claimed is: 
     
       1. A method of manufacturing an electronic card including a biometric sensor, the method comprising:
 providing a preformed card body including a circuit having contacts configured to connect to the biometric sensor, the contacts being embedded within the preformed card body; and 
 forming a cavity in the preformed card body to expose the contacts. 
 
     
     
       2. A method as recited in  claim 1 , further comprising:
 installing a biometric sensor in the cavity. 
 
     
     
       3. A method as recited in  claim 2 , wherein the biometric sensor is a fingerprint reader. 
     
     
       4. A method as recited in  claim 2 , further comprising:
 connecting the biometric sensor to the contacts using a conductive epoxy. 
 
     
     
       5. A method as recited in  claim 4 , wherein the conductive epoxy is an anisotropic conductive epoxy. 
     
     
       6. A method as recited in  claim 2 , further comprising:
 coating the walls of the cavity with an adhesive epoxy prior to installing the biometric sensor. 
 
     
     
       7. A method as recited in  claim 1 , wherein forming the cavity comprises removing material from the preformed card body to form the cavity. 
     
     
       8. A method as recited in  claim 7 , wherein the material is removed from the preformed card body using a precision end mill or a laser mill. 
     
     
       9. A method as recited in  claim 1 , wherein providing the preformed card body comprises forming the preformed card body using a hot lamination process. 
     
     
       10. A method as recited in  claim 9 , wherein the hot lamination process comprises:
 providing a first plastic layer; 
 providing the circuit on the first plastic layer, the circuit having the contacts for connection to the biometric sensor; 
 providing a second plastic layer on the first plastic layer with the circuit interposed between the first plastic layer and the second plastic layer; and 
 laminating the first plastic layer and the second plastic layer to form the preformed card. 
 
     
     
       11. A method as recited in  claim 9 , wherein the laminating is performed at a temperature of at least 135° C. and/or a pressure of at least 5 MPa. 
     
     
       12. A method as recited in  claim 1 , wherein the electronic card is any one of: an access card; a credit card; a debit card; a pre-pay card; a loyalty card; an identity card; and a cryptographic card. 
     
     
       13. An electronic card including a circuit having contacts and a biometric sensor connected to the contacts, the electronic card having been formed by a method as recited in  claim 1 . 
     
     
       14. An electronic card, comprising:
 a card body; 
 a circuit embedded within the card body, the circuit having contacts; 
 a cavity in the card body that exposes the contacts; and 
 a biometric sensor mounted within the cavity and electrically connected to the contacts. 
 
     
     
       15. An electronic card as recited in  claim 14 , wherein the biometric sensor is electrically connected to the contacts by a conductive epoxy. 
     
     
       16. An electronic card as recited in  claim 15 , wherein the conductive epoxy is an anisotropic conductive epoxy. 
     
     
       17. An electronic card as recited in  claim 14 , wherein the biometric sensor is a fingerprint reader. 
     
     
       18. An electronic card as recited in  claim 14 , wherein the circuit includes:
 a memory arranged to storing biometric information relating to at least one authorised user of the card; and 
 a processor arranged to compare the stored biometric information to biometric information acquired by the biometric sensor to determine if a user of the card is one of the at least one authorised users. 
 
     
     
       19. An electronic card as recited in  claim 14 , wherein the electronic card is arranged to be inoperable if the processor does not indicate an authorised user.